UBS, Brazil investment bank head Lacerda part ways - memo

SAO PAULO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Swiss lender UBS AG said on Tuesday that Carolina Lacerda, the head of its investment banking unit in Brazil for the past four years, has left the firm.

In a memo obtained by Reuters, Sylvia Coutinho, UBS’s senior country officer in Brazil, said Lacerda stepped down to pursue other interests. Lacerda, a former banker at Merrill Lynch, was also a member of UBS’s executive committee in Brazil.

In response to a request for comment, UBS said she had told the company she was stepping down for personal reasons, adding that the hiring of former Barclays Plc banker André Laloni to replace her as head of corporate client services in South America was aimed at “helping expand the segment’s operations.”

Still, a source familiar with the situation said UBS parted ways with Lacerda due to “growing disagreements over strategy.” Efforts to reach Lacerda were unsuccessful.

Her departure comes as UBS’s local unit braces for what’s expected to be the strongest results in capital markets and financial advisory since its inception four years ago.

This year, UBS helped advise on British American Tobacco Plc’s $3.5 billion buyout and the delisting of Souza Cruz SA, its unit in the country. The Zurich-based bank participated in a rights offering of Telefonica Brasil SA and co-managed the postponed initial public offering of state-controlled insurer Caixa Seguridade Participações SA. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal)